1 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

With a history of more than 2,000 years, the Silk Route dates back to Han dynasty. Through this route, the Chinese highly     1     (qualify) silk made its fame to the western countries. The merchants in different regions     2     (seek) the opportunity of trading Chinese silk     3     they indeed made their fortune along this route.

That route functioned     4     the life blood of international trade at that time. Meanwhile, the Chinese civilization was introduced to the Western countries and vice versa. The Silk Route     5     (consider) as a new chapter recording the friendship between the European and Asian peoples.

Throughout all these years, many great figures have made great     6     (contribute) to the development of the Silk Route. Today, the Silk Route has a poetic name     7     (call) One Belt One Road,    8     (aim) to help those connected regions in culture and economy exchange with a more advanced road. The main cities alongside it are becoming     9     (large) and more important in helping trade and culture exchange. Many countries have gained great benefits along the trading process. All in all, the ancient Silk Road is more like     10     historical textbook for everyone to read and to know about what happened during that ancient time. It has been playing a significant role in the development of the civilizations of China.

2 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Delicate, shining, and soft to the touch. The fabric called silk     1     (find) its way into the heart of Chinese people in the past thousands of years.     2     origin of it is not clear, but the ancient Chinese people     3     (credit) their own wisdom to Leizu, wife of the Yellow Emperor, as the inventor of sericulture (养蚕业).

The style and texture (质地) of silk are     4     (variety). Hangluo satin from Hangzhou,Zhejiang province, is famous for its airy and thin texture,     5     Yunjin brocade from Nanjing, Jiangsu province, a luxurious fabric often     6     (use) for royal clothes, represents China’s silk weaving (纺织) technique at its best time. Yunjin brocade is best made     7    hand, in a complex procedure that comprises more than a hundred steps. Even the most skilled artisans can only weave a few centimeters a day.

In the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC—AD 24), with Zhang Qian     8     (open) up the routes to the western regions, silk graced countries in Central Asia, and later other parts of Eurasia and beyond.     9     (appropriate), its name marked China’s major international trade     10     (route), the ancient Silk Road and Maritime Silk Road.

As one of the wonders of ancient China, silk is not merely a type of fabric but a cultural symbol and a representative of elegance.

5 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Getting rid of dirt, in the opinion of most people, is a good thing. However, the attitudes to dirt are always changing.

In the early 16th century, people thought that dirt on the skin was a means to block out disease, and washing off dirt with hot water could open up the skin and let ills in. A particular danger was thought to lie in public baths. By 1538, the French king had closed the bath houses in his kingdom. The king of England did something similar in 1546. Thus began a long time when the rich and the poor in Europe lived with dirt in a friendly way. France’s Henry IV was famously dirty. Upon learning that a nobleman had taken a bath, the king ordered that, to avoid the attack of disease, the nobleman should not go out.

Though the belief above was long-lived, dirt has no longer been regarded as a nice neighbour ever since the 18th century. Scientifically speaking, cleaning away dirt is good to health. Clean water supply and hand washing are practical means of preventing disease. Yet, it seems that standards of cleanliness have moved beyond science since World War II. Advertisements repeatedly sell the idea; clothes need to be whiter than white, cloths ever softer, surfaces to shine. Has the hate for dirt, however, gone too far?

Attitudes to dirt still differ hugely nowadays. Many first-time parents nervously try to warn their children off touching dirt, which might be responsible for the spread of disease. On the contrary, Mary Ruebush, an American immunologist(免疫学家) , encourages children to play in the dirt to build up a strong immune system. And the latter position is gaining some ground.

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6 . 根据课文内容填空

Before the mid-20th century, most people felt travelling into space was an     1     dream. However, some scientists were determined to help     2     realise their dream to explore space. After many     3    , they succeeded in making rockets that could     4     Earth’s gravity. On 4 October 1957, the Sputnik 1 satellite was launched by the USSR and successfully orbited around Earth.    5    , the USSR focused on sending people into space, and on 12 April 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the     6     person in the world to go into space. Over eight years later, on 20 July 1969, American     7    Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon,     8     saying, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant     9     for mankind.” Following this, many more goals were achieved. For example, America’s NASA space agency launched Voyager 1 on 5 September 1977 to study deep space, and it still transmits     10     today.

7 . Why Do Movie Theaters Serve Popcorn?

The savory smell. The crunchy bite. The buttery finish. Americans will recognize the smell and flavor of their favorite movies snack anywhere. Why is it that we feast our taste buds on these crisp kernels (玉米) while our eyes focus on the big screen?

    1     The main reason is the snack’s price, convenience, and timing. Popcorn was cheap for sellers and for customers, and making it didn’t require special equipment.     2     . That is how popcorn got introduced to the silver screen.

Popcorn does not refer to the popped kernel alone.     3     It was originally grown in Central America and became popular in the U. S. in the mid-1800s. Compared with other snacks at the time, it was super easy to make, and it got easier in 1885 when the mobile steam-powered popcorn maker was invented. In the late 19th century, a large number of independent popcorn suppliers became widely available.     4    

Since popcorn was cheap to make, it was also cheap to buy, which increased the popularity of this treat during the Great Depression. The Depression increased consumer spending on cheaper luxury items such as popcorn and movies, and the two industries teamed up.     5     By the mid-1940s, however, movie theaters began to have their own concession stands (小卖部) in the lobby. The introduction of the popcorn-driven concession stand to movie theaters kept the movie theater industry running smoothly, and popcorn has been a basic movie-watching food ever since.

A．A few aspects made popcorn the typical movie snack.

B．They were like the great-great-grandfathers of food truck.

C．Besides, the secret of popcorn’s pleasant taste lies in the special material.

D．It’s also the name for the specific type of corn that is used to make the snack.

E．Theaters would allow a popcorn salesman to sell right outside for a daily fee.

F．Popcorn also got popular at a time when theaters badly needed an economic increase.

G．Therefore, movie theaters which sold cheap popcorn attracted more and more customers.

8 . Humans evolved from apes. This is what we learned in biology class. But what came before apes? Chinese scientists have discovered fossils that could enrich the evolutionary story of how humans evolved from fish.

According to four articles published in the journal Nature in late September, Chinese researchers found fish fossils that provide the “missing link” about the origin of the jaw, a key feature that 99.8 percent of vertebrate (脊椎动物) species have.

Zhu Min, a lead researcher of the studies from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the findings drew a large amount of interest in the science world due to the importance of jaws in animal evolution.

However, the rise of the jaw had been a mystery due to a lack of sufficient fossil evidence to support that jawed vertebrates lived 450 million years ago.

The latest findings made by Zhu’s team presented a set of five surprisingly well-preserved fish fossils that included three whole-bodied fish, helping scientists paint a more accurate evolutionary picture of the origin of the jaw. The fish fossils were discovered at two sites in Chongqing and Guizhou, whose strata (岩层) date back to the Silurian Period that began around 440 million years ago.

These fossils show that jawed fish were already thriving (繁荣) in the world’s ancient oceans at that time. Later on, more diverse and larger jawed fish evolved and began to spread around the world, paving the way for some fish to eventually go on land and evolve into other animals — including humans.

“These fossils provide an unprecedented (前所未有的) opportunity to peek into the ‘dawn of fish’ and help scientists trace many human body structures back to these ancient fish thus filling some key gaps in the evolutionary history of how fish evolved into humans,” Zhu said.

1. In which column of a magazine will you most probably read the passage?

A．Your Voice.	B．Animals.
C．Science Study.	D．History.

2. Why did the findings draw a large amount of interest in the science world?

A．Because jaws are a key trait of all vertebrate species.

B．Because jaws are significant in animal evolution.

C．Because the rise of the jaw had been a mystery.

D．Because there is a lack of sufficient evidence.

3. What does the underlined phrase “at that time” refer to?

A．Around 440 million years ago.

B．Around 450 million years ago.

C．When jawed fish began to spread around the world.

D．When fish evolved into humans.

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．Who Are Our Ancestors?	B．What Came Before Apes?
C．The Origin of the Jaw	D．Key Gaps in Evolution

10 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What are the speakers mainly talking about?

A．Asian culture.

B．African culture.

C．European culture.

2. What does the woman consider the most interesting?

A．Cave paintings.

B．Bones.

C．Settlements.

3. How does the man feel about the woman’s claims?

A．Disappointed.

B．Curious.

C．Indifferent.